Editing VHS (section)

== History ==
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=== Before VHS ===
{{further|Video tape recorder}}

In 1956, after several attempts by other companies, the first commercially successful VTR, the [[Quadruplex videotape|Ampex VRX-1000]], was introduced by [[Ampex|Ampex Corporation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cedmagic.com/history/ampex-commercial-vtr-1956.html |title=AMPEX VRX-1000 – The First Commercial Videotape Recorder in 1956 | publisher=CED Magic |access-date=2013-03-24}}</ref> At a price of US$50,000 in 1956 ({{Inflation|US|50000|1956|fmt=eq}}) and US$300 ({{Inflation|US|300|1956|fmt=eq}}) for a 90-minute reel of tape, it was intended only for the professional market.<ref>{{Cite web |title=vhsc |url=https://throughopenlens.com/tag/vhsc/ |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=Through Open Lens |language=en}}</ref>

[[Kenjiro Takayanagi]], a television broadcasting pioneer then working for [[JVC]] as its vice president, saw the need for his company to produce VTRs for the Japanese market at a more affordable price. In 1959, JVC developed a two-head video tape recorder and, by 1960, a color version for professional broadcasting.<ref name="takayanagi">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TOMOmmrvwCcC|title=The History of Television 1942-2000, pg 169 |publisher=Albert Abramson |year=2003 |access-date=2013-03-24|isbn=9780786432431}}</ref> In 1964, JVC released the DV220, which would be the company's standard VTR until the mid-1970s.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

In 1969, JVC collaborated with [[Sony Corporation]] and [[Matsushita Electric]] (Matsushita was the majority stockholder of JVC until 2011) to build a video recording standard for the Japanese consumer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ce.org/Press/CEA_Pubs/941.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813163356/http://www.ce.org/Press/CEA_Pubs/941.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 13, 2006 |title=VCR |publisher=Ce.org |access-date=2011-07-11 }}</ref> The effort produced the [[U-matic]] format in 1971, which was the first cassette format to become a unified standard for different companies.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} It was preceded by the reel-to-reel {{frac|1|2}}" EIAJ format.

The U-matic format was successful in businesses and some broadcast television applications, such as electronic news-gathering, and was produced by all three companies until the late 1980s, but because of cost and limited recording time, very few of the machines were sold for home use.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} Therefore, soon after the U-Matic release, all three companies started working on new consumer-grade video recording formats of their own. Sony started working on [[Betamax]], Matsushita started working on [[VX (videocassette format)|VX]], and JVC released the CR-6060 in 1975, based on the U-matic format.

=== VHS development ===
In 1971, JVC engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano put together a team to develop a VTR for consumers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/20/world/shizuo-takano-68-an-engineer-who-developed-vhs-recorders.html |title=Shizuo Takano, 68, an Engineer Who Developed VHS Recorders |work=The New York Times |date=January 20, 1992 |access-date=2011-07-11 |first=Andrew |last=Pollack}}</ref>

By the end of 1971, they created an internal diagram, "VHS Development Matrix", which established twelve objectives for JVC's new VTR:<ref name="rickmaybury">{{cite web |url=http://www.rickmaybury.com/Altarcs/homent/he97/vhstoryhtm.htm |title=VHS STORY – Home Taping Comes of Age |publisher=Rickmaybury.com |date=September 7, 1976 |access-date=2011-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719095527/http://www.rickmaybury.com/Altarcs/homent/he97/vhstoryhtm.htm |archive-date=2011-07-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

* The system must be compatible with any ordinary television set.
* Picture quality must be similar to a normal air broadcast.
* The tape must have at least a two-hour recording capacity.
* Tapes must be interchangeable between machines.
* The overall system should be versatile, meaning it can be scaled and expanded, such as connecting a video camera, or dubbing between two recorders.
* Recorders should be affordable, easy to operate, and have low maintenance costs.
* Recorders must be capable of being produced in high volume, their parts must be interchangeable, and they must be easy to service.

In early 1972, the commercial video recording industry in Japan took a financial hit. JVC cut its budgets and restructured its video division, shelving the VHS project. However, despite the lack of funding, Takano and Shiraishi continued to work on the project in secret. By 1973, the two engineers had produced a functional prototype.<ref name="rickmaybury" />

=== Competition with Betamax ===
In 1974, the Japanese [[Ministry of International Trade and Industry]] (MITI), desiring to avoid [[consumer confusion]], attempted to force the Japanese video industry to standardize on just one home video recording format.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bylund |first=Anders |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2010/01/is-the-end-of-the-format-wars-upon-us.ars |title=The format wars: of lasers and (creative) destruction |publisher=Arstechnica.com |date=January 4, 2010 |access-date=July 11, 2011}}</ref> Later, Sony had a functional prototype of the [[Betamax]] format, and was very close to releasing a finished product. With this prototype, Sony persuaded the MITI to adopt Betamax as the standard, and allow it to license the technology to other companies.<ref name="rickmaybury" />

JVC believed that an [[open standard]], with the format shared among competitors without licensing the technology, was better for the consumer. To prevent the MITI from adopting Betamax, JVC worked to convince other companies, in particular [[Panasonic|Matsushita]] (Japan's largest electronics manufacturer at the time, marketing its products under the National brand in most territories and the Panasonic brand in North America, and JVC's majority stockholder), to accept VHS, and thereby work against [[Sony]] and the MITI.<ref name="howells">John Howells. "The Management of Innovation and Technology: The Shaping of Technology and Institutions of the Market Economy" [hardcopy], pp. 76–81.</ref> Matsushita agreed, primarily out of concern that Sony might become the leader in the field if its proprietary Betamax format was the only one allowed to be manufactured. Matsushita also regarded Betamax's one-hour recording time limit as a disadvantage.<ref name="howells" />

Matsushita's backing of JVC persuaded [[Hitachi]], [[Mitsubishi]], and [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp]]<ref>[http://www.mediacollege.com/video/format/compare/betamax-vhs.html Media College] "The Betamax vs VHS Format War", by Dave Owen, published: May 1, 2005</ref> to back the VHS standard as well.<ref name="rickmaybury" /> Sony's release of its Betamax unit to the Japanese market in 1975 placed further pressure on the MITI to side with the company. However, the collaboration of JVC and its partners was much stronger, which eventually led the MITI to drop its push for an industry standard. JVC released the first VHS machines in Japan in late 1976, and in the United States in mid-1977.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Cashmore|first1=Ellis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-MxfDwAAQBAJ&q=JVC+released+the+first+VHS+machines&pg=PR10|title=Screen Society|last2=Cleland|first2=Jamie|last3=Dixon|first3=Kevin|date=2018-06-12|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-68164-1|language=en}}</ref>

Sony's Betamax competed with VHS throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s (see [[Videotape format war]]). Betamax's major advantages were its smaller cassette size, theoretical higher video quality, and earlier availability, but its shorter recording time proved to be a major shortcoming.<ref name="beta_end" />

Originally, Beta I machines using the [[NTSC]] television standard were able to record one hour of programming at their standard tape speed of 1.5&nbsp;[[inches per second]]&nbsp;(ips).<ref name="100greatinventions" /> The first VHS machines could record for two hours, due to both a slightly slower tape speed (1.31&nbsp;ips)<ref name="100greatinventions">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPFiZ31mTnUC|title=100 Greatest Inventions|pages= 288–289 |publisher=Citadel Press Books |year=2003 |access-date=October 6, 2012|isbn=9780806524047}}</ref> and significantly longer tape. Betamax's smaller cassette limited the size of the reel of tape, and could not compete with VHS's two-hour capability by extending the tape length.<ref name="100greatinventions" /> Instead, Sony had to slow the tape down to 0.787&nbsp;ips (Beta II) in order to achieve two hours of recording in the same cassette size.<ref name="100greatinventions" /> Sony eventually created a Beta III speed of 0.524 ips, which allowed NTSC Betamax to break the two-hour limit, but by then VHS had already won the format battle.<ref name="100greatinventions" />

Additionally, VHS had a "far less complex tape transport mechanism" than Betamax, and VHS machines were faster at rewinding and fast-forwarding than their Sony counterparts.<ref name="Parekh">{{Cite book|title = Principles of Multimedia|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TaNmc2IdNVwC|publisher = Tata McGraw-Hill Education|date = January 1, 2006|isbn = 9780070588332|first = Ranjan|last = Parekh}}</ref>

VHS eventually won the war, gaining 60% of the [[North America]]n market by 1980.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 August 2014 |title=The Rapid Evolution of the Consumer Camcorder |url=https://www.videomaker.com/article/f22/17178-the-rapid-evolution-of-the-consumer-camcorder |access-date=2016-08-06}}</ref><ref name="beta_end" />